Dungeon & Dragons fans can soon rejoice as online game publisher Perfect World Entertainment and developer Cryptic Studios have announced that the MMORPG Neverwinter will enter open beta on April 30, 2013.

"The direct response and support from the Neverwinter community during our Closed Beta Weekends have pushed us to make Neverwinter the best free-to-play MMORPG anyone has yet seen," said Cryptic Studios Executive Producer and COO, Craig Zinkievich. "On April 30, we go into open beta. That's when the world we've labored for years to build comes to life - that's when every gamer can login and play what we've worked so hard to create. We could not be more excited."

As an added thank you to the committed Founders (details on that below) who have helped make Neverwinter possible, beginning 12:00 p.m. (PDT) on Friday, April 12, Founders will get the first opportunity to experience Neverwinter's professions system as part of a newly added 60-hour Beta Weekend 4. Founding members may simultaneously pursue four different professions: Leadership, Mailsmithing, Platesmithing and Leatherworking.

"We've never been in a better place launching a game," said Jack Emmert, CEO, Cryptic Studios. "While the entire team is focused on launching Neverwinter's open beta on April 30, we still wanted to thank those committed Founders who stuck with us. Since the beginning of Neverwinter's Beta Weekends, our Founders have shown us that Neverwinter offers engaging game mechanics, unique features and a gameplay experience that is parallel to subscription or paid games. They have become our biggest supporters and we wanted to give them Beta Weekend 4 as a token of our appreciation."

Players can still become Founders through the game's Founder's Pack Program. Benefits include exclusive access to Beta Weekend 4, permanent in-game items that are unique to Founders, early access to Open Beta, and VIP perks.